Old Habits Die Hard

My sewing adventures of late have been varied - a mix of new habits and the old ones I can't let go of. I make online media content for Minerva which they are going to release later in the year so parcels of wonderful fabric and patterns arrive at my house weekly. It is my job to sample up the patterns and share the process so that makers can sew-a-long. Hopefully my teaching background and endless enthusiasm will stand me in good stead. This brushed cotton winter dress has been one of my favourite garments of late. It is called the Fen dress by Fancy Tiger Crafts. The pattern has lots of variations so I will enjoy exploring more.

Sometimes however I have to make a garment out of a fabric I am not so keen on and at first this was hard for me to do. In the past when sewing was a hobby, I tried hard to make sure that what I made was a really good use of my precious time alongside my teaching job. Now I have got over this and can happily make a garment as a sample because I am being paid to do so. I have to give some items a new home but my mum and my friends are happy with that! On the plus side, it does give me the opportunity to toile a pattern using a delivered fabric and then make it later for myself in a self-chosen fabric.

The Charlotte dress by Atelier Jupe patterns was the perfect example. The fabric above was so soft, drapey and such good quality but boy, who put those colours together?! Anyway, it might be right up someone's street but not mine. I absolutely loved the dress pattern though so I made it again in a piece of seasalt fabric I had been saving for just the right thing...and this tie waist dress was it. I made it a little shorter on the second run and got myself the perfect dress.

I still hold on to my own deep rooted sewing ethos which is to sew for my family by recycling as much as I can. Here is a shirt made for Andy from a tablecloth ready for summer. Well, why not? The cotton was beautiful quality.

I also like to support local sewing shops. If we bought all our fabrics online some shops would be gone altogether...a balance is good I think.

This embroidered cotton was in the sale at Abakhan from £21.95 a metre to £6.59 a metre so I just had to have 1 metre. It's green. It's cotton. It's botanical. I love it. One metre was perfect for the Datura blouse by Doe and Deer. Such a wonderful pattern with beautiful techniques which enclose all the seams and gives a brilliant bust fit for a vest top.

And finally, a trait you will know me for if you have followed this blog for a while - the using up of all the scraps in the most creative of ways.

This is the Scout Tee by Grainline Studio. It is a mix of embroidered fabric scraps I just didn't want to throw in the recycle bin. The Scout Tee is probably one of my most expensive pattern purchases, but definitely my most used. I could wear variations of these tops everyday.

I have also been working on a wedding guest outfit for my teen but it has been quite the negotiation. Can you imagine? More on that one later when I next round up my sewing adventures.

Off to check out your blogs with a cuppa now. Jo xxxxx 

February...ing

Lots happening this February...so many things in fact, it has taken me away from the online world. The biggest being my studio make over. When we moved house 18 months ago all of the furniture we didn't quite have a planned home for ended up in the studio and I used it to store my stuff. Now, with creating online tutorials for my work, I have to make it work as part of my job. The new working from home concept.

Painting - one studio wall white for better filming. The sewing wall houses everything sewing related with some room to spare. I also painted the table legs on both tables green, then waxed them to seal the paint.

Disturbing - all of my craft stuff is in its self disturbing. I had a good clear out and replaced this wall with more storage.

Building - two whole walls of IKEA Ivar units with bloke was gruelling especially as we did it all on one rainy day. My girls built some stuff too in the house while we put the units together and they kept popping in with completed parts. 

Exciting - news. The introduction of our cockerel, Gordon, has meant that Daisy the hen has started laying again. Hopefully, Heidi can hatch chicks which she has been reading up on. The incubator is ready to go in spring. For now though, we are eating the new eggs.

Giving - a Harris Tweed jacket a new life. It was a mens kilt jacket but I shortened the shoulders and sleeves; added a waist tie; covered some new buttons and added a cuff detail. It is such a warm coat/jacket.

Sewing - a comfortable dress. I am not mad about the fabric print as it happens but the pattern is brilliant and super easy. I have been exploring a range of patterns for work called Atelier Jupe. They have a wonderful wardrobe range and incredible instructions. This is the Charlotte dress and Lou top. I like that most of my clothes have names!

Sorting - out embroidery threads. With the two girls both stitching, it was all getting a bit of a mess. I bought them a bobbin case and the girls sorted out what they wanted to keep then got rid of the rest.

Crocheting - my knitting and crochet has ground to a halt. All of that painting and moving furniture has left me with a sore elbow. Also I have ran out of the medium grey colour wool for this throw and can't seem to find any anywhere. I have also found out that using my hands every evening to do yarn craft is actually what keeps me awake! I am finding it hard to keep my eyes open in the evenings without it.

Upskilling - my sewing by creating piping detail on my latest pair of Carolyn Pyjamas. The pattern really lends itself to the concept of moving your sewing on as you make each pair more complex. It is expensive but in my opinion, the only one PJ pattern you will ever need. This is my fifth pair (not all for me!)

Listening - to the wild wind this week and bracing ourselves for Friday with storm Eunice. I have tied the trampoline to a tree, turned all the sheep hay cratches away from the wind and picked up anything that can blow away and put it in the shed. All gates will be checked but fingers will have to be crossed for the tin on the barn roof. In calmer times...

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xxx

Nearly, not quite...

I will restart my three word gardening posts soon because I am getting itchy feet to grow again. In the meantime, I will show you what has been going on over the winter.

We are being tempted with slightly longer days giving us an after school slot to walk the dog, feed the sheep and chickens. This is also making me want to start thinking about the garden again.

The emergence of winter flowers like snowdrops are making me get excited about which bulbs are going to pop up again in the front border.

Considering this was just my grandfather's antique potato planter in some soil last year, I am pleased that the front garden at least has something on show in January. If it can look this good when it should look bad, gives me hope that I have planned it out well. The little piles of hay are protecting my ranunculus when we have hard frosts which we get on top of a ridge here.I gave this border a good weeding last week and saw tiny bulb leaves peeping out.

Indoors I am welcoming the longevity of my Christmas poinsettia and the explosion on my spider plant which I know to be a sign that it is pot bound so maybe a mammoth houseplant re-pot is on the cards soon. Also it is making me want to get my macrame stuff out and hit my crafty side.

I am loving the return of daffodils to my weekly food shop. My mum bought me some bulbs too for my birthday which is next up on my list of things to plant.

In much bigger and somewhat historical news, I have given a piece of land to my friend Beth to use. She is a bridal flower grower and designer. Last year after removing all the old building rubbish from a paddock at the back of the new house I found myself staring at a huge piece of ground. I was going to plant an orchard on it but as I stood there with a mug of tea I thought it would be a much needed growing space for my friend Beth to expand. Beth works on her own, and so do I, so it was a collaboration that meant we both wouldn't feel isolated. On a more selfish note, I would gaze at a sea of seasonal flowers from my kitchen window and not have to weed it!

She and Andy spent late Autumn rotavating it, splitting it into beds and adding a whole trailer load of manure.

Currently, it has 100's of foxgloves in all different colours laid out in one bed and fifteen rose bushes in a rose bed. I made a peony bed too but it is a bit weedy! As the ground slopes away she has shrubs and perennials in other beds. It is not much to look at now but I will love showing you this cut flower garden as it changes throughout the year.

With Beth and her plantsmanship skills on hand a few days a week, I have was able to pick her brains about what to plant in Autumn 2021. I have sweet peas overwintering in the greenhouse.

I took cuttings from all of my trailing geraniums doubling my stock for filling pots in Spring.

My cornflower seeds have been pricked out and are now outside hardening off. Beth informs me they are OK up to -10 degrees.

The veg plot is still under its tarp staying all warm and weed free. The only veg I have on the go at the moment is a good garlic bed. Meg planted these in late Autumn in cell trays and we put them out last week. By the time they are ready to pick, tie and dry I will hopefully replace this bed with the sweet peas.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you found something of interest in my garden. Jo xx

January...ing

I have decided to move my ing posts towards the end of the month so that I can include all the seasonal things that have been going on, when I did them at the beginning of the month I was always kind of a month behind.

Loving - early morning dog walks in frosty weather. So much more enjoyable than the December murk we had.

 

Feeling - much happier with my yarn choice for the latest knit on my needles. I frogged the last yoke because the coloured yarn was too thin and it sort of fell into the brown yarn. This one is King Cole Bramble in a colourway named Goldenberry. For me, it should be called Blue-Tit-in-a-tree.

Making - a much better job of knitting when the yarn is right. There are no mistakes this time.

Shrinking - my Paper Dolls sweater :( It had a cooking stain on the front and I made the mistake of washing it on too hot a wash. It is a pain in one way because it was a 3ply knit but in another way it was always too long but I kept wearing it because I made it. I wasn't overly in love with the coral colour either.

Turning - said sweater into a cosy cushion cover instead. Fun or misguided?

Awing - at my youngest girls stitching work. I am also in awe of how she keeps the momentum of it going. She does some most evenings while watching one episode of Death in Paradise from the iplayer.

Looking - on as my oldest shows equal skill but uses hers to modify her jeans. She is currently working on the hedgehog at the end. Heidi flits between creative activity because she is doing GCSE Art and has lots of other creative outlets. She loves a few evenings on her cross stitch too.

Welcoming - Gordon. He is our new cockeral. It could have gone one way or another but our one remaining hen, Daisy, was driving herself demented in the run on her own. They get on so well and Daisy has stopped doing sad laps of the run and they peck about together in the field. We are hoping to get some chicks but who knows?

Celebrating - my birthday which always pulls January along somehow. I had so many wonderful gifts and cards. Bloke bought me this bracelet and my friend made me a yummy syrup cake. My mum got me some summer flowering bulbs and I also had new gardening gloves and woolly mittens from friends too. An array of hobby linked gifts. Perfect.

Sewing - I have made some very successful stuff of late. My favourites are this double gauze Charlie Caftan. The fabric is an absolute winner, but while making it, I wasn't sure about the caftan style however as soon as you tie the waist it makes the most comfy dress.

Trying- out a more casual pattern to make a hoodie. It is actually for Heidi but I am having a go with it too.

Thinking - I am very lucky to live where I live and do what I do.

Wanting - to start gardening again. I am getting itchy feet to grow things.

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xxxx